Although it’s been delayed, today Twitter finally switch off the ability to use a username/password combination to access the Twitter API (used by many third party applications to access your twitter account).  Instead, a more secure system called OAuth must be used.  Now, many twitter clients have either moved to OAuth, or offer a choice of methods.

So, from today, the old method will no longer work; if your preferred twitter app has stopped working, first of all, check to see if there is an OAuth option, and if not, you might want to check for a software update to see if that resolves it.

Some apps will simply no longer work; fring have announced that in the short term their twitter addon for the Android version of fring will no longer work.

Of course, with many manufacturers building in twitter (and facebook) support into their phones, and many of those vendors being less helpful in providing any form of firmware update service, it’s possible your mobile phone app will no longer work either.

It’s not all doom and gloom though; when twitter were last planning this, I did a little research, and found that the majority of the mobile phones built in applications seemed to be using OAuth, and hence would not be affected.  Have you been affected? Has your preferred twitter client stopped working, and there’s no update? Let us know via the comments…

Screenshot of Gravity on Symbian courtesy of nokiaaddict.com (now gerrymoth.co.uk), and we should point out that Gravity has supported OAuth for some time, so as long as you are using a fairly up to date copy, you shouldn’t have any problems with Gravity.

I’ve already covered many of the key benefits to the new 3 MiFi unit (in my first looks), although I will restate that it’s a joy to use now it’s a single power button to set everything up, and the wireless encryption key being only numbers makes it easier to quote to people to share the connection.  For the full review, click on the full article below.

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As you will know, we’ve been quite vocal in our beliefs about the use of the word “unlimited” in marketing and advertising especially when it comes to mobile phones, and will often tell you (wherever we can) what the actual limits are that are specified in the small print of the T&Cs. Well, it appears Vodafone is going further, and will start charging for usage over the limit, potentially from 1 June.

To be fair to Vodafone, there were one of the first networks to drop the words “Unlimited Internet”, and have for some while specified that their tariffs come with “500MB Internet”, but there was little that happened should you actually go over this limit.  If you were obviously abusing the connection, they had the right to cut you off, but did little else.  Now, however, they are going to start charging you £5 per additional 500MB (possibly in 500MB chunks; ie go 1Kb over the limit, and that will cost you £5, although that’s not yet fully clear).

In the same week that 3UK have dropped their “unlimited” internet from 1Gb to 500MB (and again, are clearly stating their charges for going over this limit), it seems that although more and more tariffs will come with that first 500MB for free, those using more than that need to be ready to pay for the privilege.

Quite often when new devices are released in the US, they never make it to the UK, or only make it a long time afterwards.  Today, Microsoft launched the Kin One and Kin Two, and I can confirm that Vodafone will be carrying at least one of the devices from this Autumn.  I’m not sure when they will be available in the US, but that doesn’t sound like a long wait after their US release.

The main feature of these Windows 7 Mobile phones is the homescreen contains what Microsoft are calling Loop; ie allowing you to be kept in the loop; social networking updates, website and other updates will appear on the homescreen.  These phones could be seen to be the latest generation of Sidekick devices (a company Microsoft bought), which were never heavily marketed in the UK, so it will be interesting to see how well Microsoft can make these devices appeal to their planned audience.

As you can see, both devices are QWERTY keyboard devices, with the Kin One having a squarer look to the device, and a 5 megapixel camera, whereas the Kin Two is a more traditional side slider with 8 megapixels, and twice the internal memory.  More news and specs as they become available, but for more (general) information, head over to the Kin website here.

I can see these devices being successful if there are priced correctly…

Yahoo have updated their Upcoming mobile website to be much more feature rich than the previous version.  Although it provides an iPhone-like interfact, this still works well on multiple devices, and now provides much more user specific information.  If you are a regular Upcoming user, then head to m.upcoming.yahoo.com to access the new site.

This is an innovative desk stand for your phone.  As well as including an 8-in-1 memory card reader, a 2 port USB hub, having a variety of connectors to charge your phone, and running solely off USB power, it also claims to be able to hold any phone in portrait or landscape formats without any additional support!

The Desk Genie is apparently made from a special rubberised material, which is strong enough to hold an phone in portrait or landscape positions, and should even still hold the phone in place when the phone is vibrating, yet should leave no sticky residue on the phone.  For only £15 (+ delivery) this looks an interest device, if only to hold your phone at the right angle for use on your desk, let alone all the additional properties it has.

Mobile Fun do warn that with time the rubbery surface’s ability to hold a phone will fade as dust collects on the surface, but a quick wipe with clean water should restore it back to normal.

As for those mobile phones charging connectors: iPhone, Nokia (both 2mm and 3.5mm), Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG are all supported, as are the miniUSB and microUSB formats (the latter being the standard connector for many manufacturers moving forward).   This power connector does not use either of the USB ports on the device, although it would appear at first glance that this is a power only connector, so it may not be possible to sync and charge many devices (unless you use Bluetooth to sync between the device and your PC/Mac).

You can see more of the Desk Genie at Mobile Fun.

To compete against SkypeOUT, Nimbuzz have now launched their equivalent service, NimbuzzOut, which offers the ability to make international calls at a discounted rate.  In a similar style, you need to TopUp your account with credit, and are then able to make cheaper calls to landlines and mobile phones.  For example, a call to a French landline would cost €0.0135 per minute, and the same cost to a US landline too.  In comparison, SkypeOUT will charge€ 0.020 per minute for the same countries.

It should be said that Nimbuzz offers US$ or EUR€ pricing, not GB£, so you will always have some element of currency conversion in there.

NimbuzzOut is currently available on the Symbian and iPhone / iPod Touch clients, and will be rolled out to the other platforms in time.

More information is avaialble from Nimbuzz from their website here.

This is a picture of the new 3UK Mobile Wi-Fi device from Huawei, which is going to be available on 3UK soon.  Given the removal of the Huawei-specific D100 Router from the 3Store, and the move back to ZTE USB Mobile Broadband modems, we did wonder whether 3UK might be planning such a device.  It’s only 86 x 45 x 10mm (smaller than many mobile phones) and will allow “several” devices to connect to the 3G connection via Wi-Fi.  We understand “several” means 5 devices, although whether 5 all actively connecting at once will overload the 3G connection is another matter.

It can also be connected via USB directly to a computer, but early Huawei branded versions did not allow simultaneous connection via USB and Wi-Fi, so when connected via USB, these devices no longer shared the connection; we are not aware of whether or not this issue has been resolved.  You do, however, get access to an up to 7.2mbps down, 5.6mbps up connection when directly connected via USB.

Unlike the D100 Router, this device does have a built in 1500 mAh battery, and will recharge via USB, with up to 5 hours access.

We’ve seen this unit referred to as a MiFi device, which is actually a product brand name of a competitor, and not a generic name for these devices, but nonetheless, it looks very interesting, and we’re hoping to get a review unit soon.

Ofcom, the mobile network regulator, have released their own 3G coverage maps, based on data supplied to them by the networks for 31st December 2008.  This gives you a good comparison between the networks on who and where you will find 3G networks.  Now, the biggest thing to remember is that in the areas of white on the maps, you may still have coverage, but only at 2G or 2.5G.  These maps at least give you a good guide to where you can be sure you definitely won’t be getting those nice fast download speeds.

Head here for the maps.

Update: Another option for UK coverage maps is GSMWorld, which can be accessed here.

We first covered the Huawei D100 Router as sold by 3UK earlier this year, but we now see it’s been removed from the 3Store (most likely due to 3UK concentrating on the ZTE USB Modem right now, which is not compatible with the Huawei).  Well, courtesy of Hot UK Deals, we’ve been informed that Carphone Warehouse are currently selling their stock of the 3 branded device at half price, which is £34.25.  That’s a very good price for the device, although it is limited to only working with 3UK, and, as already stated, needs a Huawei 3UK USB Modem to work.  However, once you have that, it will offer you the ability to share your 3UK Mobile Broadband connection with upto 4 other devices via Wi-Fi as long as you have access to a power socket.

Given that this does have these limitations, what are the options for others?  Well, the Solwise 3G Router may help out; although it’s designed as an ADSL router, it has a 3G failback capability (ie when the ADSL line is down, it will use a 3G USB Modem instead).  Now, because this isn’t being sold by any particular network, it’s not limited to one mobile network, and also supports a whole range of USB Modems, including a number of ZTE models as well.  It can even support some mobile phones being connected via USB if you have one lying around spare.

As the Solwise has both an ethernet port and Wi-Fi capability, it can act as a nice portable connection sharing device too. The Solwise is a little more expensive at £60 though (although for another few pounds you can get a Euro plug adaptor for the same device given you the ability to use it across Europe; although use a local SIM or be prepared for some horrendous data roaming charges!).

Both these devices still have one problem; the USB Mobile Broadband Dongle has to be physically located close to the main unit (and hence a power socket); if this location does not have the best 3G signal, then you should head over to Mobile Fun, who sell external aerials and signal boosters for the majority of USB Modems on the market (and have some generic ones for those without external antenna sockets).  Finally, it’s not clear if Carphone Warehouse are selilng the Black or White variant (or if you get a choice when ordering online), so it may be prudent to go to your local store if you are looking for a particular colour.

We should say that T-Mobile have a similar unit, but it’s only available with a new Mobile Broadband contract, so if you already have a device, there’s no wasy way of purchasing one…